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In a dramatic escalation ahead of the Bihar assembly elections, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav on Monday urged the Election Commission of India (ECI) to halt the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the state, citing severe inconvenience to voters and questionable exclusion of widely held identity documents.

Yadav, speaking at a press conference alongside INDIA bloc allies, said, “This exercise should be put on hold till elections. The EC will do well to have a word with its booth-level officers who are facing the ire of voters while collecting data.”

According to news agency PTI, he criticised the omission of Aadhaar and MNREGA job cards from acceptable proofs of identity, despite Aadhaar involving biometric verification. “It is perplexing that Aadhar cards, which are made after biometric verification, and to which the EC intends to link respective voter ID cards, are not being accepted,” he said.

The former Bihar deputy chief minister demanded the ECI publish assembly constituency-wise voter data daily during the revision process and release the list of volunteers assisting booth-level officers. Yadav questioned the transparency behind volunteer selection: “What is the criterion behind accepting a person as a volunteer should also be disclosed.”

He further stated, “We have been flagging our concerns before the EC. We have also moved the Supreme Court for timely intervention.”

Nine Parties Join Legal Battle Against Voter Revision

The remarks come as nine political parties, including Congress, NCP, CPI, SP, Shiv Sena (Uddhav faction), Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, CPI(ML), and DMK, have also filed a petition against the revision exercise. Those who submitted the petition include KC Venugopal (Congress), Supriya Sule (NCP), D Raja (CPI), Harinder Malik (SP), Arvind Sawant (Shiv Sena - Uddhav), Sarfaraz Ahmad (Jharkhand Mukti Morcha), Dipankar Bhattacharya (CPI(ML)), and leaders from DMK.

Earlier, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the RJD had already approached the court over the matter.

Congress Calls Process ‘Mischievous’ and ‘Destructive’

Pawan Khera, Congress’ head of media and publicity, declared in a post on X that the entire opposition stands firm against what he termed a “malicious and mischievous methodology.”

He stated, “Today, the Indian National Congress, along with nine political parties, came together to file a challenge to the flawed and destructive Special Intensive Revision (SIR) being carried out by the ECI. The entire opposition stands together to oppose an exercise that is guaranteed to disenfranchise a vast number of voters due to its malicious and mischievous methodology. The Supreme Court has listed the matter for Thursday, July 10, 2025. Satyamev Jayate.”

Today, Indian National Congress along with 9 political parties came together to file a challenge to the flawed and destructive Special Intensive Revision (SIR) being carried out by the ECI. The entire opposition stands together to oppose an exercise that is guaranteed to…

— Pawan Khera 🇮🇳 (@Pawankhera) July 7, 2025

Supreme Court to Hear Pleas on July 10

PTI reported that the Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear on July 10 a series of petitions contesting the EC’s decision. A bench of Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Joymalya Bagchi acknowledged submissions from senior lawyers, including Kapil Sibal, representing several petitioners.

Sibal, who appeared for RJD MP Manoj Jha, urged the court to serve notices to the Election Commission, calling the timeline impossible with state polls expected in November. Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi pointed out that nearly four crore out of eight crore voters in Bihar would need to submit documents under this process, questioning the feasibility of completing it on time.